Current weather

After three former Georgia offensive players were selected on Saturday in the NFL Draft, it was the defense's turn on Sunday.

Cornerback Asher Allen went in the third round to Minnesota with the 86th overall pick. Defensive tackle Corvey Irvin soon followed as the 93rd pick to the Carolina Panthers and defensive end Jarius Wynn was taken in the sixth round to Green Bay with pick No. 182.

Georgia's six total selections are its most since seven players were picked in 2006.

Allen hoped to go in the first two rounds, but said he had no regrets of joining quarterback Matthew Stafford and running back Knowshon Moreno as underclassmen that left for the NFL.

"I'm always optimistic," Allen said. "Could have went earlier but it is what it is. Now, all we can do is move forward and I bett er get my chinchilla coat because it's kind of cold up in the Twin Cities."

Stafford was the top overall pick to Detroit and Moreno went No. 12 to Denver on Saturday. Receiver Mohamed Massaqoui was a second-round pick by Cleveland.

The 5-foot-10, 195-pound Allen, who played the final five games of the regular season with a broken hand but still finished fourth on the team with 53 tackles, had to wait longer than he wanted before getting selected.

Besides talking with his family, Allen revealed Sunday that he consulted with a cousin, former Cowboys receiver Michael Irvin, and cornerback Darrell Green, another Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee, when he decided to leave Georgia as a junior.

Eleven cornerbacks were scooped up before Minnesota grabbed Allen.

"When they called, it didn't surprise me; I thought it was going to be a little sooner, but they called and that's what's important," said A llen, who watched the draft at his home in Stone Mountain. "Obviously, I'm very confident in myself and I felt that some of the corners that went in front of me weren't better than me, but it doesn't matter what I think, it's what teams think. I've just got a little chip on my shoulder now. It's how it went. It's what you do when you get there. I understood that. ...Being the 86th pick is nothing to be ashamed of."

Irvin and Wynn both became NFL draft picks following two seasons at Georgia after transferring from Georgia Military College.

The 6-3, 301-pound Irvin became a starter last year after Jeff Owens was lost for the season to a knee injury. He had 34 tackles, eight and a half tackles for loss and tied for the team lead with three sacks last year.

He gets to stay close to his home in Augusta.

"I had a feeling it was going to be Carolina," Irvin told Panth ers.com. "I broke down all of the teams and saw what everybody needed. When I started seeing Carolina, Atlanta and Tennessee, they all (had similar needs), so I started getting a little anxious. Then I saw the 704 area code pop up, so I knew it was the Carolina Panthers."

The 6-3, 275-pound Wynn, from Lincolnton, started seven games last season as a senior when he had 24 tackles and three sacks including two in the Capital One Bowl against Michigan State.

Georgia had five players go in the top 100 selected. Only Southern California had more with six.

"That's great," Allen said. "It shows what kind of school we have and what kind of talent comes out of the SEC first and foremost. ...With what the coaches provide for us, it allows us and exposes us to this kind of venue — the NFL."

Notes: At least four Georgia players reached agreements to sign as undrafted free agents as of Sunday night.

Linebacker Dannell Ellerbe will sign with Baltimore, according to his agent James "Butch" Williams. Ellerbe, who shared a Sports Illustrated cover with Stafford and Moreno before last season, had off-field issues early in his college career, but led Georgia in tackles as a junior before having only 33 as a senior when he was slowed by a knee injury.

Fullback Brannan Southerland plans to sign with the New York Jets, his mother said.

Receiver Kenneth Harris said he will sign with New Orelans and receiver Demiko Goodman said he will sign with Pittsburgh.

... The five players drafted in the first three rounds ties the UGA record from 2005, 2003 and 2001.